EP #98: Ahilan Arulanantham - Lawyer, Professor & Immigrants' Right Advocate

Ahilan Arulanantham is a Lawyer, Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law (@uclalawschool). He has successfully litigated a number of cases involving immigrants’ rights, particularly the rights of people facing deportation from the US. He has been Senior Counsel and Director of Advocacy/Legal Director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU, @aclu_nationwide) of Southern California and was the recipient of a 2016 MacArthur Fellow (a "Genius Grant").He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss winning a MacArthur Fellow Grant (@macfound) for $625,000 for a five-year period, the importance of immigrants in Canada and the US, working on the FBI vs. Fazaga case at the Supreme Court, defending the rights of immigrants including unrepresented children, dealing with Tamil food cravings while growing up in California, and much more.Follow Ahilan:- Twitter (https://twitter.com/ahilan_toolong) Timestamps00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Ahilan Arulanantham01:34 - His upbringing; what spared his passion for law and human rights03:57 - Dealing with Tamil food cravings while growing up in USA; Hopper Hut07:50 - Winning and donating 25-30% of his $625,00 MacArthur Fellow Grant13:59 - What is Temporary Protected Status and why Trump tried to end it20:19 - Ahilan explains and why Obama introduced it during his administration24:02 - What ICE is, why it was created, and how it affects immigrant rights28:30 - The importance of immigrants in Canada and the US30:18 - Dysfunctional prison systems; Ahilan’s secondary inspection story35:49 - Arguing at the Supreme Court for the FBI vs. Fazaga case40:00 - Working in the field and as a professor; being recruited by UCLA41:58 - Mentorship and how Ahilan built his network45:16 - A learning lesson he’s experienced; defending unrepresented children49:12 - Where he sees himself in the next 3-5 years49:19 - Advice he would give his 16-year-old self50:38 - The personal legacy he wants to leave behind51:37 - Creator Confessions54:32 - The Wrap UpIntro MusicProduced And Mixed By:- The Tamil Creator- YanchanWritten By:- Aravinthan Ehamparam- Yanchan Rajmohan      Support the show